Wire-working machine.



F. R. HOLDRED.

WIRE WORKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 10. 1914.

Patented Oct. 5,1915.

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NOGRAPH cm. WASH F. R. HOLDRED. WIRE WORKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I0. 1914. 1,155,729. Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

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3m? W 3M 9% 20.5% W W COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH C0,, WASHINGTON, 0.1:.

FRANK R. I-IOLDBED, OF OAK$, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE WARRENFEATHERBONE 00., or THREE OAKS,

MICHIGAN.

lvTICH-IGAN, A CORPORATION OF WIRE-WORKING MAGHI-N E.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

To aZZ whom it may concern p Be it known that I, FRANK R. HoLDRnn, a

citizen of the United States, residing at .VVorking Machines, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in wire-working machines andrefersinore particularly to a type of machine which, although adaptablefor various uses, is particularly fitted for constructing ladies collarstiffeners which are known in the trade as flares.

Among the salient objects of the invention are, to provide a machine forfacilitating the rapid and accurate shaping and forming of a wirestructure of the general type referred to; to provide in a machine ofthe class referred to a construction which will enable the wire ties tobe formed and twisted with a high degreeof speed and accuracy byrelatively unskilled help; to provide a ma chine which shall be readilyadaptable to various forms of wire structures of the eneral typereferred to; to provide a mac ine ofthe class described in which thetwisting of all of the ties in thejstru'cture ma be simultaneouslyeffected by a single twisting operation; to provide a machine of theclass described which will admit of the structure being formed from asingle continuous length of wire; to provide a machine which shall besimple and economical in construction; and, in general, to provide amachine ofthe class referred to. V p

My machine in its construction andoperation may be more readilyunderstood when considered in connection with the accompanying'drawings, which 4 Figure 1 is a plan View of one embodiment of myinvention; Fig. 2 is an elevation of Fig. 1 shown partially insectiongFig. 3 is a section of Fig. 1 taken on the line 353; and Fig.dis a plan view of the wire structure or flare which the machine isdesigned to operateupon. r p

As an illustration of the application of my invention, in the drawings Ihave shown a machine designed to form and twist a structure indicated inplan in Fig. inf the drawings, this representing what is known in thetrade as a Gladstone flare. This article is constructed in the followingmain ner'by thea-id of my improved machine, which will nowbe described.

Upon a suitable bench or platform 10 I erect a pair of wooden standards11 to the top of which is screwed a fiat base plate 12. In the top ofthis plate there are driven, or otherwise securely fixed, a plurality ofupstanding steel pins which include two corner pins 13 and a pluralityof pairs of outer pins 14, slightly spaced apart, and correspondingpairs of inner pins 15. Between each pair of pins 14 and 15 I mount arotatable longitudinal twist member 16 axially in line with the centersof said pairs of pins. Each of these twisted members 16 consists of ahollow tube 17 of suitable length, one side of which is slotted outcontinuously from end to end, the slot being relatively narrow as to itsintermediate portion and flaring out considerably toward the ends of thetube. A short distance from each end of the tube I secure a twist pin18, curved slightly toward. the other end of the tube, and extendingfrom the unslotted side of the tube inwardly through the axis thereofand some distance beyond, as indicated in Fig. 3. The axis of each ofthese twist tubes 17 is located slightly above the top surface of theplate 12, which is slotted out on either side of the tube and at eachend to admit the pins 18 as they rotate, these slots being shown at 19in Fig. 1. Each of the tubes 17 is adapted to rotate freely in a pair ofsmall bracket bearings 20' and 21 which project through slots in theplate 12 and, are attached by screws 22 ,to the under side thereof. Eachof the bearings 20 and-21 is slotted out on its upper side to affordcommunication with the slot in its associated twister tube 17, the slot,however, not being wide enough to interfere with its function as abearing for the tube 17. Rigidly on. each tube 17 and co-aXiallytherewith, a short distance from the bearing 21 I mount a gear 23 whichis also slotted radially at 24c to afford communication with the slot inthe tube 17. The plate 12 is cut out to accommodate each of the tubes 17and its associated gear 23 which, in conjunction with its slot,preferably acts as a collar to limit the axial movement of the tube inits bearings. Each of the twister members 16 is of the proper length andlocated in a suitable position on the plate 1 0 correspond with thelength and location of the corresponding tie wire connection of thecompleted structure.

In order to enable all of the tubes or twist members to be actuatedsimultaneously, I connect them by means of intermediate gears 25. Ipreferably locate each of these gears 25 with its axis in the same planeas the axes of the twist members; and to this end I mount each of thesaid gears 25 to rotate freely upon a stationary pin or shaft 26. Thisshaft 01' pin has its ends slightly flattened or milled off so that theymay be screwed securely to the under side of the plate 12 by means ofscrews 27. The plate 12 is slotted out to admit the intermediatecircular portion of the pin 26, this slot being of suitable shape andsize to admit the gear 25 and its hub. The slotting out of the plate 12for the gears 23 and 26 practically results in a continuous slotextending be tween the two outer twist members. Obviously, if the axesof the twist members 16 are parallel, the gears 23 driving them and theintermediate gears 26 may be ordinary spur gears; but if the axis areinclined, as shown in the embodiment illustrated, the gears must besuitably beveled in order to mesh properly.

The twister members 16 are all operated at the same time by means of acrank handle 28 on the end of a shaft 29 adapted to rotate in a pair ofbearings 30 and 31 mounted on the under side of the plate 12, with theaxis of the shaft preferably parallel with the axis of one of thetwister members in the set. Since, -in the case I have illustrated, thegear 23 mounted on said twister member is of the bevel type, and sincethe axis of the shaft 29 and the said twister member are parallel, Iprovide on the said twister member tube 16 a driving gear 32 of the spurtype, which is adapted to mesh with a spur gear 38 secured on the shaft29. Axial movement of the shaft 29 in its bearings 30 and 31-isprevented by means of a pair of suitable collars 3&1 pinned to the saidshaft and cooperating with the inner adjacent faces of the bearings 30and 31. It should be noted that the gear 32 is slotted to communicatewith the slot in the tube 16 in a manner similar to the slotting of thegears 23; and all of these gears 33, 32 and the different gears 23 areprovided with the same number of teeth so that when the crank handle isin a certain position (in this case at its lowest point), the twistermembers 16 are all presented with their slots opening upwardly and thusin communication with the slots in the journal bearings 20 and 21.

In order to form the wire structure shown, the operator sets the handlein the position shown, with the slots open throughout their length andfacing upwardly, and takes a continuous length of suitable wire, the endof which she inserts in the end of the slot in one of the twister tubes(in this case preferably the inner end of the middle twister membertube). She then loops the wire around the pins, following the courseindicated in Fig. t by the letters a, 5, 0,11, 6, i 9 a .7 Z: a Y); Q78, 7 y: y finally cutting off the wlre at the point a. WVhen laying thewire in the slots of the, tubes, care is taken to see that while the twowires constituting the ties 35, 36, 37, 38 and 89 lie between the pairsof pins 141 and 15, they are placed at either side of the pins 18 so asto prevent a relative movement of the intermediate portions of the wireswith ref-;

erence to each other and to the tube while the latter is rotating.Having looped the wire around the pins and within the tubes in the abovedescribed manner,the operator completes the formation of the structureby giving a sufiicient number of turns to the crank handle 28 to make astrong twisted connection of each of the two strands of wireconstituting the ties. The completed structure may then be readilyremoved from the machine after first locating the crank handle 28 in itslowestposition so as to permit the ties to be lifted out of the slots.

Upon inspection of Fig. 4, it will be no ticecl that the wireconstituting the structure is formed with a succession of crimps orcorrugations. This crimping operation, however, has no connection withmy improved machine but is performed .by other mechanism before the wirereaches my machine. The crimps referred to are provided for the purposeof enabling the flare to be stretched or distorted into any desiredshape upon its application to the collar; they also prevent the threadsfrom slipping when the flare is sewed to the collar. These crimps,however, are simply an incidental ward the center thereof, of a pair ofwires,

means spaced apart along the axis of said twister member for causing theintermediate portions of said wires to rotate bodily with said twistermember, and means for rotating said twister member.

2. 'In a wire-working machine, the combination of a twistermemberprovided with a side opening at either end thereof extend: ingsubstantiallyto the axisof said twister member for the admission in aradial direc tion of a pair of wires sidewise substantially to thecenter of said twister member, engaging means at either end of saidtwister member for preventing movement of the intermediate portions ofsaid wires relative to said twister member, and means for rotating saidtwister member. I

3. In a wire-working machine, the combination of a twister memberprovided with a side opening at either end thereof extendingsubstantially to the axis of said twister member for the admission in aradial direction of a pair of wires sidewise substantially to the centerof said twister member, engaging means at either end of said twistermember for preventing movement of the intermediate portions of saidwires relative to said twister member, means for rotating said twistermember, and a journal bearing for said twister member intermediate theends thereof.

4. In a wire-working machine, the combination of a twister tube having aslot extending from end to end in one side thereof to permit theinsertion sidewise of a pair of wires to be twisted together at theirends, means for rotating said tube, and means associated with each endof sald tube adapted to prevent relative movement of the intermediateportions of said wires with reference to said tube during said rotarymovement.

5. In a wire-working machine, the combination of a twister tube having aslot extending from end to end in one side thereof to permit theinsertion sidewise of a pair of wires to be twisted together at theirends, means for rotating said tube, a separating member mounted in eachend of said tube. and a journal mounting for said tube.

6. In a wire-working machine, the combination of a plurality of twistingmechanisms each comprising a twister member provided with a side openingat either end thereof extending substantially to the axis of saidtwister member for the admission of a air of wires sidewisesubstantially to the center of said twister member, means spaced apartalong the axis of said twister member to preventing movement of theintermediate portions of said wires relative to said twister member, andgearing connecting all of said twister members and adapted to drive thesame at the same angular velocity.

7 Ina wire-working machine, the combination of a twister tube having aslot eX- tending from end to end thereof to permit the sidewiseinsertion of a pair of wires to be twisted together at their ends, aseparating member mounted 1n each end of said tube, a journal mountingfor said tube slotted to admit said wires, and a gear mounted on saidtube and provided with a slot communicating with the slot in said tube.

MORRIS G. M. GAWN, FRED EDINGER.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

